How did France Get Nukes? (Short Animated Documentary)

Summary by Krater

This video explains how France developed its nuclear weapons program after World War II, differing from the US and UK approaches and overcoming international friction and financial strain.

From the video

Answers: How did France acquire nuclear weapons?

• French nuclear program history
• Nuclear proliferation
• Charles de Gaulle
• Suez Crisis impact on nuclear policy
• French nuclear testing in Algeria

What it concludes

• France became the fourth nation to acquire nuclear weapons by pursuing an independent nuclear program after feeling internationally humiliated during the Suez Crisis.
• Unlike the US and UK, French nuclear strategy relied on the capability for nuclear retaliation against a Soviet invasion to deter attacks.
• France tested its first nuclear bomb in Algeria in 1960 and later moved testing to French Polynesia in the mid-1960s.